Calif. Dem announces Feinstein challenge
by admin ·
The president pro tempore of the California State Senate on Sunday launched his primary bid against Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).
Kevin de León, who declared his Senate bid in a video, will make a formal announcement in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
“We now stand at the frontlines of a historic struggle for the very soul of America, against a President without one. Every day, his Administration wages war on our people and our progress,” de León wrote to his backers in an email.
“He disregards our voices. Demonizes our diversity. Attacks our civil rights, our clean air, our health access and our public safety. We can lead the fight against his administration, but only if we jump into the arena together.”CNN reported last week that de León had been speaking with labor leaders and would soon launch his bid.
The news comes shortly after Feinstein, 84, confirmed last Monday that she will run for re-election.
De León in the video announcement noted that he was born to a single mother who was an immigrant.
“So I owe it to this single mother, this woman, and millions like her, throughout the state, throughout the country who do everything within their power to protect their children … it doesn’t make a difference if it is a Latino, African-American, White, Asian-American, or racially-mixed community, poverty is poverty … and I think that it is incumbent upon policymakers, on leaders, to provide real opportunities, so everyone can succeed,” he said.
The California state senator will make his formal announcement at the Los Angeles Trade Technical College on Wednesday afternoon.
Democracy for America said Sunday it would back de León in its first endorsement for the 2018 Senate primaries.
“The simple fact is this: We won’t defeat Trump and his Republican Party with corporate Democrats pushing Republican-lite policies and weak leadership,” the progressive group’s executive director, Charles Chamberlain, said in a statement.
“We win when candidates offer a progressive vision for America and fight to make it happen. Kevin de León has proven he will do both and we can’t wait to see him do it in the U.S. Senate.”
